When Warners Brought Broadway to Hollywood, 1923-1939 by Martin Shingler

Author:Martin Shingler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, London

The Arliss Star Company at Warner Bros. in the Early 1930s

In March 1930, shortly after Arliss won his Oscar for Disraeli, Warners extended his contract for a further four pictures, offering him $125,000 for three films, with an option to make a fourth film for $41,000. 42 Throughout 1930, Arliss films remained financially viable, having earned an impressive total of $904,000 for Warners by the spring of 1931. 43 Consequently, the studio was in a good position at this time to increase his salary. Also, despite the Depression and soaring levels of unemployment across the USA in 1930, Warner Bros. was able to increase its average budget per film from $306,500 in 1929–1930 to $354,300 in 1930–1931 due to increased cinema admissions and box-office revenue. 44 The number of high-budget films, however, was reduced from a total of sixteen in 1929–1930 to just eight in 1930–1931, as the company began to rely more heavily on medium- and low-budget films. 45 The cost of making Arliss films was reduced by featuring the star in some modern-day dramas and comedies, although expenditure on his films remained consistently above average. Another change was the assignment of John G. Adolfi, who took over from Alfred E. Green as the director of the Arliss pictures, starting with contemporary comedy The Millionaire in 1931. 46

John Adolfi suited Arliss, being more concerned with managing the logistics of the shoot and technical details than creative matters, enabling the star to direct his fellow actors. 47 Consequently, Arliss devised his own method of filmmaking, one that was particularly well suited to stage-trained players. This method began with the star reading the script to the entire cast, followed by two weeks of intensive rehearsals, culminating in a “dress rehearsal” that involved neither costumes nor scenery but was enacted from start to finish before an audience assembled from people from around the studio. 48 By this time, all the members of the cast were required to have learned their lines and be able to perform without a script. The performance was conducted without gaps, breaks or pauses, and was timed by Maude Howell . 49

In his second memoir, Arliss explains that he used this method for several reasons. Firstly, it enabled him to discover the impact of the story on an audience, while also identifying any inconsistencies or discontinuities in the script. However, it also enabled actors to arrive on set well prepared to play their parts, thereby saving valuable time that would otherwise be spent working out character motivation and bits of business during the shoot. 50 Since most of Arliss’ screen actors had stage experience, the star could rely on them being familiar with rehearsing plays and discovering what the story was really about during this process. His method was designed to give actors a strong sense of their roles and enable them to get “inside the part.” 51 Knowing that the camera and microphone could register an actor’s thoughts, Arliss wanted his actors to concentrate on what their

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